Safety in his numbers
Chung truly covers unique job for Pats
FOXBORO — Similar to a shutdown cornerback, the Patriots believe they’ve got a unique weapon in their safety room.
Patrick Chung might have just wrapped up the best regular season of his career, and the 30-year-old will be an important asset for as long as the team is alive in the playoffs.
“I don’t think there is a better cover safety in the NFL than Patrick Chung,” captain Duron Harmon said. “I really believe Patrick is unique. You don’t see 215-pound strong safeties who go out there and play the nickel position or a corner. You don’t see it.”
Linebacker Kyle Van Noy, who typically keeps a low profile, overheard Harmon’s remarks and immediately interjected, “I’ll second that.”
Chung is hardly the only safety in the league who is tasked with taking a team’s premier tight end, but his often-imitated, rarely duplicated role extends past just that. He can garner extensive roles against explosive running backs, such as Alvin Kamara of the Saints in Week 2, or quick-twitch receivers, such as Falcons wideout Mohamed Sanu in Week 7. To the latter point, Chung proved that capability when the Pats switched him to Colts speedster T.Y. Hilton in the second half of a victory in 2015.
But Chung truly makes his mark in coverage against tight ends. When they opened the season against the Chiefs, his portion of the game plan was relatively straightforward: Take out Travis Kelce. On cue, Kelce was never targeted when Chung manned him up.
Some of Chung’s greatest work occurred against his fiercest assignments. He also wasn’t targeted in Week 8 when he covered Antonio Gates or Hunter Henry. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton never looked his way in Week 4 when he took on Ed Dickson.
The ninth-year safety also had his way with two other potential playoff opponents. Bills tight end Charles Clay managed two catches on five targets for 14 yards in two meetings with Chung, who added a pass breakup. And Steelers tight end Jesse James caught two passes on three targets for 7 yards against Chung in Week 15.
Overall, Chung held tight ends to 22 receptions on 38 targets (57.9 completion percentage) for 231 yards and two touchdowns, and he had an interception and two pass breakups. That’s an average of 1.4 catches for 14.4 yards per game when they’ve been glued to Chung.
“I’m just playing, man,” Chung said. “Just playing some ball. The game is slowing down for me a little bit. That’s all I’m doing. Whoever the (assignment) is, I’m just doing my job and calling it a day.”
It’d be a disservice to insinuate Chung’s responsibilities begin and end with tight ends. Kamara, an Offensive Rookie of the Year favorite, beat Chung once on four targets for 38 yards. Chung also held Sanu to a 9-yard catch on three targets.
On the whole, non-tight ends beat Chung 12 times on 24 targets for 138 yards, and he broke up two passes in those assignments.
“Pat’s role just of being able to cover tight ends, slot receivers, running backs has been huge,” Devin McCourty said. “For the most part of when you play free safety and you’re able to cancel out coverage things like, ‘Hey, Chung’s not going to really need my help.’ That frees you up a little bit more. I think it’s great for us as a defense.”
Reliable on the field and off, Chung is an intense, team-first leader who helps ensure the locker room stays in line, but he is also a respected teacher due to his experience in the system. On the field, Chung always has their backs, especially in post-whistle scraps. And during pregame warmups against the Buccaneers, Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp set off Chung with a negative comment, which led to a lively faceto-face encounter.
Before or during the game, it hasn’t been wise to try to get under Chung’s skin.
“That’s not a guy (you) want to chirp to before the game to try to get him going,” Harmon said. “He is a good football player off the rip, so for you to try to get him going in another way, to try to get him fired up, you don’t want to do that because he can destroy an offense just by himself.”
Chung hasn’t allowed a touchdown since Week 5, and he has been more active around the ball since the bye week with an interception, three pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, three quarterback hits and three run stuffs (tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage). So Chung has made more plays during that stretch, whether he has been in coverage or attacking downhill.
That level of play will need to continue in the divisional round, either in a rematch with Kelce or Clay or a showdown with Titans leading pass catcher Delanie Walker. Chung has been studying them all this week, knowing his secondary mates will rely upon him to cancel out whichever assignment that he draws.
“They’re all good,” Chung said. “They’re all different. They all have their own skill sets. They’re all dangerous. Whoever it is, I’ll be ready.”